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Online music streaming and download service
Several clear ethical alternatives to Spotify exist, each emphasizing different remedies to the platform’s most criticized practices: and prioritize direct artist revenue and cooperative governance, a...
Most consumer guides and journalists in 2025 point to Bandcamp, Resonate, Napster and a handful of smaller or niche services as the most “ethical” choices because they pay artists more directly or use...
Qobuz presents itself as an “ethical” streaming alternative by publishing an independently examined per‑stream figure (US$0.01873 on average in FY2024) and by leaning into purchases, human curation an...
Most independent reporting and calculators in 2025 show niche, premium services pay the most per stream: Peloton and Napster appear at the very top in some breakdowns (Peloton ≈ $0.03; Napster ≈ $0.01...
Qobuz publicly disclosed and had independently validated that it paid an average of US$0.01873 per stream to rights holders in 2024, a figure the company and multiple trade outlets say places it among...
The collected analyses consistently identify and a handful of smaller or niche services as paying the highest per-stream royalties, while and large ad-supported services pay substantially less per str...
Industry estimates and niche analyses in 2025 show smaller or specialist services pay the highest average per-stream rates: Napster and Qobuz frequently top lists (Napster ~$0.019–$0.021; Qobuz up to ...
Major streaming platforms offer selective transparency: a few services publish headline metrics or audited “per‑stream” averages (Qobuz disclosed $0.01873 per stream for Mar 2023–Mar 2024) while most ...
In 2025, niche and smaller services report the highest average payouts per stream: Napster is cited around $0.019–$0.021 per stream , and TIDAL commonly appears near $0.0125–$0.01284 per stream . Majo...
Streaming payouts in 2025–2026 remain a landscape of ranges, not fixed cents: established data and industry trackers show Spotify among the lower-paying mainstream services (roughly $0.003–$0.005 per ...
In 2025 the highest per‑stream payouts skewed toward smaller, paid‑only or audiophile platforms—Napster, TIDAL, Apple Music and niche services like Qobuz reported the strongest per‑stream averages—whi...
Yes—there are streaming platforms that position themselves as “indie-friendly” or pay higher per-stream rates than Spotify; smaller services such as Tidal, Qobuz, Napster and specialist options (and m...